the miu miu people next to piazza de spagna in rome are just HORRIBLE. we walked in half an hour before closing time and it was completely empty (they dont get as many tourists as gucci and LV in the middle of the piazza) and they were all by the entrance just staring at me and my mum from head to toe and it made me feel soo uncomfortable, there wasn't even any music on! the SA wasn't helpful at all but luckly for her my mum had already picked out what she wanted to get somewhere else, so when after 15min she walked out with two bags and a wallet the lady changed completely and gave us a huge smile.

I don't know if this really fits the situations, but I remember last year when in Vegas my friend and I went into a store (cant remember the name, but they sold sunglasses and lots of them) and the second we walked in the sales woman was on us. she kept asking "can I help you?" or "how much are you looking to spend?" and she kept giving us looks as if to say "i bet you cant afford the cheapest pair in the store". i was so uncomfortable i dragged my friend out of the store.

stores in rio are EXACTLY like that, but not only the expensive ones, i mean any store. they don't act like they think you can afford anything but they assume from the minute you've stepped into the store that you're there to buy something, even if you say you're just browsing they'll be following you around the store, comenting on everything you look for more than 2sec like "oh this is new collection, i have it in other colours, wanna see it?"
sooo annoying.

^well, i work in a clothing store so I know exactly what you guys are talking about. A lot people who aren't familiar with retail think that when a sales person is following around the store is because they think you're gonna steal something? NOT TRUE most that work in retail are on commission and it's very competitive! they want to help out as many guest as possible because they want a better looking check

couple of years ago i bought a $900 dress in MaxMara store and took it home, and didnt like , I went the next morning to return it and manager got so annoyed, lol
she started yelling at me that dress smelled like smoke. what a f***!!! nobody smoked around me, , no way it smelled like smoke ..
eventually she took it back
i never walked in that store again

^well, i work in a clothing store so I know exactly what you guys are talking about. A lot people who aren't familiar with retail think that when a sales person is following around the store is because they think you're gonna steal something? NOT TRUE most that work in retail are on commission and it's very competitive! they want to help out as many guest as possible because they want a better looking check

theres a store here that sells make up, and whenever i used to go in with a friend we were followed by an employee who just happened to be fixing up shelves in every isle we walked in, and i know these people arent on commission because its a drug mart. in a lot of stores like that here they tend to follow teens around.

I recently went into a Coach outlet store just to browse. I happened to be wearing my coach swingpack at the time. Every single associate in that store was staring me down and looking at my purse as if I stole it. It made me so uncomfortable I had to leave. The thing is almost every other customer in that store was wearing one as well. If you go into a Coach store, most likely the person already owns one!!! I think a lot of it had to do with my age as well. I will never go back!

I just LOL @ this fool on the phone at Barneys. I called there to see if the SA could tell me when the gift with purchase event for natura bisse cosmetics is going on.
Me:Is Melissa there?
SA:Who?
Me:Melissa...
SA:No its her day off. [silence]
Me:O-K. Is she there tomorrow?
SA:No.
Me:Is she there Thursday?
SA:No.
Me:When is she back to work, do you know?
SA:I think maybe on Friday.
Me:You think maybe? You dont know?
SA:I dont have her schedule in front of me right now, sorry.
Click. I hung up.

Very small I know, but not too tough to place me on hold for a minute and see when's she's back in. I know he wasnt with a customer because the cosmetics area is usually dead except for on weekends.

I just LOL @ this fool on the phone at Barneys. I called there to see if the SA could tell me when the gift with purchase event for natura bisse cosmetics is going on.
Me:Is Melissa there?
SA:Who?
Me:Melissa...
SA:No its her day off. [silence]
Me:O-K. Is she there tomorrow?
SA:No.
Me:Is she there Thursday?
SA:No.
Me:When is she back to work, do you know?
SA:I think maybe on Friday.
Me:You think maybe? You dont know?
SA:I dont have her schedule in front of me right now, sorry.
Click. I hung up.

Very small I know, but not too tough to place me on hold for a minute and see when's she's back in. I know he wasnt with a customer because the cosmetics area is usually dead except for on weekends.

For what it's worth, I know that when I was working retail last year, we really discouraged from providing that sort of information to anyone calling, because we don't know who is calling for the SA, and for all we know it's some crazy stalker wanting to know when he/she'll be at work

I see that point, but I'm a regular, and I mentioned before I was transferred that I was calling to reserve a place for a facial, so the communication was very lacking with whomever patched me through. Still, if even that was the case, that he thought I was some "stalker", he could have asked how he could help me, as I wouldnt have been adversed to scheduling an appt with him, where he would have ended up making the commission sale since he booked it. Just too lazy over there at Barneys, I guess.

I just LOL @ this fool on the phone at Barneys. I called there to see if the SA could tell me when the gift with purchase event for natura bisse cosmetics is going on.
Me:Is Melissa there?
SA:Who?
Me:Melissa...
SA:No its her day off. [silence]
Me:O-K. Is she there tomorrow?
SA:No.
Me:Is she there Thursday?
SA:No.
Me:When is she back to work, do you know?
SA:I think maybe on Friday.
Me:You think maybe? You dont know?
SA:I dont have her schedule in front of me right now, sorry.
Click. I hung up.

Very small I know, but not too tough to place me on hold for a minute and see when's she's back in. I know he wasnt with a customer because the cosmetics area is usually dead except for on weekends.

Incredibly in Paris - this could almost be called good customer service! Here people can simply hang up on you or lie because they are too too lazy to help. It's fortunate for a vast proportion of parisian sales associates that regulations mean its almost impossible to sack someone - they have so many rights its just too darn expensive to let them go. You'd possibly be let go if you tried to kill your boss - but that's still a maybe!

There's a department store here called Franck et Fils which is legend - its an upscale store and even if you ask to buy something and go to them with the cash in hand the salespeople who largely are sitting or standing around chatting act like you've assaulted them. It's an experience or else if you try something on and it's not you - they try and argue with you that it is. But the worst thing about shopping in general here is that they make you wait soo soo long to part with your cash. It's sad because there are some great salespeople out there - they are just few and far between. The Lanvin boutique can be horrid here even when your a buying customer. I find the people at all the Pradas here very nice though....